1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical lighting. More specifically, the present invention relates to illuminated cabinet soffits and aprons for wall-mounted hanging kitchen cabinets and other wall-mounted hanging cabinets commonly installed in the home, shop, and workplace.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wall-mounted hanging cabinets are a nearly universal means of providing storage space for various articles in a number of different environments. Such cabinets can vary greatly in their vertical extent and mounting height, but are generally mounted with their bases about five feet above the floor. Such cabinets are generally about two to two and one-half feet high from bottom to top, which results in a gap of between six inches and one foot in height above the cabinets in the case of the typical eight-foot high ceiling of most structures in the U.S. This above-cabinet open space is often used to store infrequently used articles and for running additional wiring, conduit, pipe, etc. Whatever the actual use to which this above-cabinet gap is put, the result is generally rather unsightly.
As a result many people will cover this above-cabinet gap with a closure panel or soffit of some sort, generally without lighting or any particular decorative aspects. In some cases, the soffit panels may be ornamented or decorated in some manner, but very few have included any lighting. Where lighted soffits have been developed, they generally use a translucent panel with no decorative pattern to serve as room lighting. In any event, such soffit panels are generally permanently installed, with no provision for changing the appearance of the soffit panels without major remodeling effort.
Under-cabinet lighting is also often installed beneath such hanging wall cabinets. Such under-cabinet lighting is used to illuminate the underlying countertops or the like. Often, an apron is attached to the lower edge of the wall-mounted cabinetry to block generally horizontal light emission directly into the eyes of a person in the area of the cabinetry. As such, there is generally no provision for light output through the apron. These aprons at best generally have only rudimentary ornamental appearance to match the adjacent cabinetry; seldom is any additional ornamentation provided. As in the case of conventional soffit installations, there is generally no provision for modifying or changing the appearance of such aprons without a fair amount of remodeling work.
The present inventor is aware of various examples of lighting installed with cabinetry. One such example is found in Japanese Patent No. 4-193,215 published on Jul. 13, 1992, which describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) an under-cabinet lighting system actuated by a photocell. A light barrier is installed surrounding the under-cabinet light, depending from the bottom of the overlying cabinet. The photocell is installed exterior to the light and light barrier in order to detect variations in the lighting pattern without being affected by the under-cabinet lighting.
Japanese Patent No. 4-341,219 published on Nov. 27, 1992, describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) a single lighting unit for a divided produce case or the like. The single light is installed in a partition between the two sections of the case, thereby projecting light into both sections.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, illuminated cabinet soffits and aprons solving the aforementioned problems are desired.